ZKS Interview with Lake Herman Road Witness James OwenPosted on March 30th 2013, Morf13 initiated a forum thread based on a surviving witness to the Lake Herman Road crime scene. On December 20th 1968 the Zodiac Killer began his murderous campaign that claimed the lives of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen. Seven months later he sent three coded messages to three Bay Area newspapers to leave the authorities in no doubt they had a new breed of killer on their hands.One witness that night was James Owen, who drove past the isolated Lake Herman Road turnout, during the relevant time frame.Morf13 recently contacted James Owen by phone, to pick his brains and draw his recollections of the Zodiac case. The full transcript of that phone call and subsequent discussion can be found at ZodiacKillerSite forum.

James Owen has been more than a witness to me, he has been a suspect in my mind as well due to multiple inconsistencies in his statements to police, and because he was the only person confirmed to be at the scene of the 12/20 attack after the victims were last seen alive and when they were found dead a few minutes later. He should have been properly ruled out by police. He wasn't !

Richard

4/4/2014 03:36:52 am

I have read the thread and James Owen does come across a bit offhand and dismissive, although maybe he was tired of it all and had moved on.. I find it strange that in a major case such as this, in which you are a prime witness to, that you would ever forget the date, never mind the month ("when was it again? November?). The only reason I question him as a suspect, is if you were a serial murderer, just happening across somebody on your way to work with a loaded pistol and deciding on murder seems a bit odd.
I always got the feeling the Zodiac Killer murdered on the weekends in his own time, when he could prepare himself. If not then this would be an impulse murder with little forethought.
Also despite travelling these roads and the vicinity on a regular basis while he worked at Humble Oil, if he made the phone call to Nancy Slover he fails to name the park and his 1 mile east on Columbus Parkway statement, indicates little knowledge of the area and is either deception on his part or he isn't the Zodiac. But then again, what is the point in deception here, you are trying to convince the police dispatcher you are in fact the real killer, as showed by the July 31st letters.
Then again he had only moved to Vallejo in 1967 so probably had failed to assimilate the place fully. But the 6' 3" height is a major drawback.